"And he ordained twelve that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach. And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils". Mark 3:14-15
Notice that the primary reason He called the twelve was for them to be with Him. It is only in being with Him that they could know Him, and proceed to making Him known to others. It was not until they had been with Him that they were then sent forth to represent Him in the world. The object of being with Him, therefore, was, first, to know Him, and, then, make Him known to others. The more we stay with people, the more we know them, and the more like them we become.
When you take a piece of metal and join it to a magnet, what results is that the metal begins to behave like the magnet. The association of the metal with the magnet empowers the iron to do what it could not have done without its association with the magnet: becoming magnetic. This is a type of what happens when we join ourselves to Christ in regular fellowship in His word. Some of the qualities of His personality are imparted in us, and we can then showcase such attributes to those we meet on a daily basis. This is what the Christian is called to do. There is no struggle in making God known when we have been with Christ, just as the perfume does not struggle to make it presence known in a place.
The Christians in Antioch did not struggle to show that they were followers of Jesus Christ, the people saw that they resembled Christ in several ways, and nicknamed them Christians. Meeting with them was like meeting with Christ. Their lives were significantly different from those of all people around them. Their lives were compelling evidence that they had been with Christ.
Toni
